"It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis

Year of Publication:  1935
Number of Pages:  376
Genre:  Political fiction, dystopia

Senator Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip, a vain, outlandish, racist, sexist demagogue is voted President of the Unites Sates of America, with promises that he will make angry, white voters proud, prosperous and powerful, and, more or less, that he will Make America Great Again.  Before long he becomes the dictator of a totalitarian United States.  The rise of Windrip, and America's descent into tyranny, is shown through the increasingly appalled eyes of small town newspaper editor Doremus Jessup who soon learns, to his horror, that it can happen here.

This is a powerful anti-fascist novel that, distressingly, feels possibly more timely now than it did when it was first published in 1935, at the height of fascism in Europe.  While the book is very much of it's time, it's set during the late 1930s and references several real-life people and events of the time, it is still readable today.  And this is a very readable book.  Lewis was a good writer, with a memorable turn of phrase and a dab hand in writer striking one-liners.  In the early stages of the book it is often laugh out loud funny, but as the novel progresses, and the situation becomes more serious, the laughs quickly vanish.  This book is a must read for anyone, just to see where we are and where we may be headed.  Remember, not only can it happen here, but it is happening here.

High Life

Year of Release: 2018
Director:  Claire Denis
Screenplay:  Claire Denis and Jean-Pol Fargeau, story by Claire Denis
Starring:  Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, André Benjamin, Mia Goth
Running Time:  110 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, horror, drama

A group of death-row inmates are sent on an expedition into deep space to attempt to extract energy from a Black Hole.  The expedition has been sold to them as an alternative to the death penalty, but in reality they have no way of ever returning to Earth.  On the long voyage the prisoners are subjected to a series of medical experiments by the sinister Doctor Dibs (Binoche).  As time goes on the tensions between the prisoners, in the close quarters of the increasingly run-down spaceship lead to madness and violence.

This is the first English-language film, and the first science-fiction film from critically acclaimed French director Claire Denis.  It has to be said that for anyone looking for sci-fi action-adventure, you will not find it in High Life.  Told in a fragmented, non-linear style, this is a slow, meditative film, punctuated by brief bursts of graphic violence, and explicit sex and nudity.  The prisoners are kept drugged throughout most of their voyage and speak to each other in slow, hushed tones.  The film opens with Robert Pattinson's Monte, who has been condemned for killing his friend over a dog as a child, alone on the spaceship with his baby daughter.  The rest of the crew and prisoners are all dead, and the bulk of the film is taken up with flashbacks to how the prisoners met their fates and how Monte came to have a child in outer space, and flashforwards.  Pattinson gives an icy performance as Monte, usually calm and introverted, but given to bouts of violence.  Juliette Binoche is also memorable as the disturbed and frustrated Doctor Dibs, who uses the other prisoners for sex and experimentation.  The film is frequently aching slow and deathly dull, punctuated by genuinely shocking scenes (including scenes of sexual assault), and hauntingly beautiful images.  The film is at it's best in the later scenes with Monte and his teenage daughter (played by Jessie Ross), which provide the only touches of warmth and humanity in the film.  I did not enjoy this film, I probably won't see it again, and yet there are moments that I think will stay with me for a long time.

Jessie Ross and Robert Pattinson blast off in High Life

    

While We're Young

Year of Release:  2014
Director:  Noah Baumbach
Screenplay:  Noah Baumbach
Starring:  Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried, Charles Grodin, Adam Horovitz
Running Time:  97 minutes
Genre:  Comedy, drama

New York City:  Josh Schrebnik (Stiller) is 44 year old documentary filmmaker and teacher.  After making a splash with his debut film, he has spent ten years working on his follow-up, and is married to Cornelia (Watts).  One night Josh meets 25 year old aspiring filmmaker Jamie Massey (Driver) and his wife Darby (Seyfried).  Josh is enamored with the free-spirited hipster couple, Cornelia is more reluctant, but still finds herself drawn to Jamie and Darby.  Before long the older couple are adopting the tastes and lifestyles of their younger friends, at the expense of their older friends.  But things go wrong, when Josh realises that Jamie's values and worldview don't match up with his own.

This is an enjoyable and consistently funny film which does make some pertinent points about ageing.  Josh and Cornelia are approaching their mid-forties and so are a long way from being elderly (full disclosure I am currently 41) but they are facing the specter of old age there are things that they want to do in their lives that they realise they have to do sooner rather than later, or risk never being able to do them at all.  Also they are stuck in a rut, Josh has been working in the same film for ten years, and still doesn't know what it's about.  Both he and Cornelia feel alienated from their best friends, who are new parents.  They are drawn to Jamie and Darby because of their creativity, energy, and their enthusiasm particularly for retro pop culture.  However, Josh soon comes to realise that Jamie is full of pretence and artifice, and is also very manipulative.  However the film makes it clear that Jamie and Darby are part of a changing world, and Josh and Cornelia are not condemned or really mocked for embracing a youthful lifestyle, in fact it proves a mostly positive experience.  Ben Stiller is funny and engaging in the lead, and Adam Driver gets a lot of mileage form his cool hipster persona.  Naomi Watts and Amanda Seyfried are largely sidelined though.  Noah Baumbach has usurped Woody Allen as the king of New York comedy-dramas, mixing heart and humour in nearly equal doses.   This isn't his best work but it is still worth checking out.

Amanda Seyfried, Adam Driver, Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts in While We're Young 

The Big Lebowski

Year of Release:  1998
Director:  Joel Coen
Screenplay:  Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Starring:  Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Running Time:  117 minutes
Genre:  Comedy

Los Angeles, 1991:  Jeff Lebowski (Bridges), who prefers to be known as "The Dude", is a good natured slacker, an ex-hippie who spends his time bowling and smoking weed.  One night two strangers break into his small apartment, mistaking him for a millionaire who is also named Jeff Lewbowki (Huddleston).  They leave after realising their mistake, but not before one of them ruins the Dude's rug.  Believing that the "Big Lebowski" owes him for his rug, the Dude finds himself unwitting drawn into a complex kidnapping plot involving an experimental artist, German nihilists, wealthy pornographers, a million dollars and a hungry marmot. 

This is a very funny shaggy-dog story from the Coen Brothers.  Influenced by the detective fiction of author Raymond Chandler, the story doesn't really make a lot of sense, but then, it's not supposed to.  the episodic narrative is packed with jokes and memorable characters:  Aggressive Vietnam veteran Walter (John Goodman), avant-garde artist Maude (Julianne Moore) who works naked flying on a swing, and flamboyant bowler Jesus (John Turturro).  The Coen Brothers have a real gift for idiosyncratic dialogue, and a strong ear for individual speech patterns.  It's sylishly directed, and visually striking, particularly the surreal dream sequences, and a great soundtrack of late sixties and seventies psychedelic rock.  Most importantly it is very funny, and full of quotable lines.  The film wasn't a big success on it's first release, but it has since become a major cult hit, to the point where some people pattern their lives on the film, there is even a semi-religion known as "Dudeism".  It's set against the backdrop of the first Gulf War, which is seen on TV sets and occasionally mentioned (in one scene the Dude hallucinates Saddam Hussein as a bowling alley employee) but doesn't really impact the characters lives at all, even the militaristic Walter is pretty much fixated on Vietnam, and these characters are living in the past, and are still stuck in the early seventies.  Their nostalgic worldview isn't criticised by the film, seeming to exist apart from the rest of the world, in a mythic Shangri-La for white middle-aged men, of bowling and weed.  The Dude's problems occur when he is forces himself out of his own world, but despite everything that happens, all he really wants is a rug.  Everything the Dude does in the film is because he has been pushed to do it, or talked into it by others, to the extent that he frequently parrots what people say to him to others, word for word, as if they are his own ideas, and he seems to think they are.  The Dude elevates laziness into an artform.  Everyone in the talented cast gives a good performance, and it seems like it was a lot of fun for all concerned.  While the Coes Brothers have definitively stated that there will not be a sequel, John Tuturro has written, directed and stars in a spin-off film called The Jesus Rolls which is due for release in 2020.

            Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi and John Goodman prepare to roll in The Big Lebowski

Three... Extremes

Year of Release:  2005
Director:  Fruit Chan, Park Chan-wook, Takashi Miike
Screenplay:  Lilian Lee, Park Chan-wook, Bun Saiko, Haruko Fukushima 
Starring:  Bai Ling, Tony Leung Kai-fai, Lee Byung-hun, Im Won-hee, Kyoko Hasegawa, Atsuro Watabe
Running Time:  125 minutes
Genre:  Horror

Three short horror films from three directors from three different countries:
"Dumplings", from Hong Kong and director Fruit Chan:  Ageing actress Mrs. Li (Miriam Yeung) buys special dumplings from the mysterious Aunt Mei (Ling).  These dumplings have the power to restore youth, beauty and vitality, but contain a shocking secret ingredient.
"Cut", from South Korea and Park Chan-wook:  A successful movie director (Lee Byung-hun) and his glamorous pianist wife (Kang Hye-jung) are kidnapped by a homicidal extra (Im Won-hee) and forced to play a sadistic game to survive.
"Box", from Japan and Takashi Miike:  Kyoko (Hasegawa) is a successful 25 year old novelist, tormented by recurring nightmares of her childhood as a circus performer.  She believes that she is being haunted by the vengeful spirit of her sister (Yuu Suzuki), who died in childhood, and is struck by the physical resemblance between her literary agent and the owner of the circus who was her childhood tormenter (both Watabe).

This was made as a sequel to a previous international omnibus film called Three (2002), but was released in the US and the UK first.  After this film became successful Three was released as Three... Extremes 2.  This is a visually striking film, where each segment feels completely distinct.
"Dumplings", which Fruit Chan later remade as a standalone feature film, is a mostly low-key but creepy tale, which almost feels like a social drama at some points, dealing with ageing, particularly in regards to women, and women's place in Hong Kong society.  Mrs. Li is desperate to restore her youth when she realises that her sleazebag husband is having an affair with a much younger woman, which he barely bothers trying to conceal from her.  Aunt Mei, who claims to be much older than she appears, makes a living carrying out secret abortions and making these sinister dumplings.  The film manages to make diced meat and slurping little, crunchy dumplings very creepy.
"Cut" is the most full-blooded, in every sense, entry.  Playing as a macabre gruesome black comedy this is funny, suspenseful and shocking.  The extra traps the director and his wife (none of the characters are named) in a set made to look like their house, and chains the director to the wall while stringing up his gagged wife at a piano like a living marionette, forcing him to confess his worst sins, and threatening to cut off his wife's fingers one by one unless the director kills a young girl.  Again the female characters are merely the instruments for the male characters to either discover themselves or take revenge on another man.  Although it becomes less simplistic as it goes along.  The segment is visually stylish and has some effective surprises.
"Box" is visually stunning, but is so strange.  More disturbing and disquieting than full on scary, it's very atmospheric and it really does feel like you are watching a nightmare.  It touches on some very disturbing themes.
This is an effective anthology, and there are segments that will work better than others.  My personal favourite was "Cut", which managed to make even this jaded horror fan wince.  It does have thje problem that a lot of anthology films have, of being uneven.  I found "Dumplings" quite slow, and "Box" just baffling, however for fans of Asian horror, or anyone interested in learning about it, then this is well worth checking out.  However I would warn that it is very gruesome in places, and it touches on some quite difficult subjects.

Let the games begin:  Three... Extremes

Mistress America

Year of Release:  2015
Director:  Noah Baumbach
Screenplay:  Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig
Starring:  Greta Gerwig, Lola Kirke
Running Time:  84 minutes
Genre:  Comedy, drama

Eighteen year old Tracy Fishko (Kirke) is in her first semester at Barnard College in New York City, and is struggling to adapt to college life.  Following her mother's advice, Tracy reaches out to Brooke Cardinas (Gerwig), her soon-to-be stepsister.  Tracy is fascinated by the older, impulsive, free-spirited Brooke, and her eccentric lifestyle.

This is almost a companion piece to the earlier Noah Baumbach - Greta Gerwig collaboration Frances Ha (2013), in which Gerwig plays a similar impulsive but fragile character.  While it is not laugh-out-loud funny, it is amusing throughout, and is an often moving take on the pains of young adulthood.  Both Tracy and Brooke are very similar, if at different stages in life.  They are both trying to find their place in the world, and they are both ambitious.  Tracy, who has literary ambitions, is inspired to write a cruel short story based on Brooke called "Mistress America", portraying her as a  self-destructive, ridiculously impulsive "manic pixie dream girl".  Brooke has ambitions to start a restaurant, but while she is good at ideas, she is not very practical, and finds it hard to realise her ambitions, and at the age of thirty, Brooke, despite her seeming confidence and free-wheeling lifestyle, is just as confused, fragile and vulnerable as Tracy.  Some may find it difficult to sympathise with the problems of a couple of relatively wealthy, young, white people trying to make friends and fulfill their artistic ambitions in New York, and that is fair.  While I did not always find the character likeable, I always found them sympathetic and relatable.  Like the lead charcaters, the film has a loose, free-wheeling feel to it, including a crucial extended sequence late in the film, set in Connecticut, which while funny and effective, still feels a little out of place with the rest of the film.  Baumbach directs with some style, getting a lot from small character moments.  There are some good performances, but the film is completely dominated by the luminous Greta Gerwig.       

Greta Gerwig and Lola Kirke in Mistress America   

The Host

Year of Release:  2006
Director:  Bong Joon-ho
Screenplay:  Baek Chul-hyun, Bong Joon-ho
Starring:  Song Kang-ho, Byun Hee-bong, Park Hae-il, Bae Doona, Go Ah-sung
Running Time:  124 minutes
Genre:  Science-fiction, horror, drama

 In Seoul, clumsy, lazy and slightly dense Park Gag-du (Song Kang-ho) lives and works at a small snack bar owned by his hard-working father Park Hee-bong (Byun Hee-bong), and is a single father to his young daughter Park Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung).  One day, a giant water monster rises from the Han River near the snack bar and causes havoc.  Despite Park Gag-du's best efforts to save her, the creature snatches Park Hyun-seo and escapes.  The South Korean government and American military force the survivors of the attack into quarantine, on the grounds that the creature spreads a deadly virus.  Gag-du receives a call from Hyun-seo.  Realizing that she is still alive, he escapes with Hee-bong, and his sister, champion archer Nam-joo (Bae Doona), and his brother, alcoholic unemployed college graduate Nam-il (Park Hae-il).  The four embark on a desperate rescue mission , while being hunted by the police and military.

Monster movies tend to run  on very familiar lines, and this sticks to the basics, while giving a refreshingly quirky twist on the cliches.  Most monster movies have the creature being revealed gradually, hinted at and glimpsed before finally being revealed in all it's glory.  Here the creature appears in broad daylight, attacking a crowd early in the film.  Also it is not particularly big, as giant monsters go, about the size of a large truck.  The authorities in the film, both Korean and American, are portrayed as inept, callous, deceitful, and negligent, and are as much adversaries for the family as the monster is.  The relationships between the family members are well-drawn, they bicker and fight almost constantly, but there is a very strong bond between them all.  We also spend time with Hyun-seo, trapped in the monster's lair, and trying to escape without being discovered.  Co-written and directed by future Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho, this is one of the best monster movies of recent years.  Full of claustrophobic suspense, it's exciting, scary and often funny, and surprisingly satirical.  It makes some pretty scathing attacks on the American military, stationed in South Korea, who are portrayed as not knowing, or caring, how they impact the lives of the local people, and the South Korean government which is portrayed as equally callous and ineffectual.  It also has an environmental message, with the monster apparently being a product of pollution.

        Bae Doona searches for The Host